Mososaurus:
These Gigantic marine lizards are over 40 ft long. They sometimes use their great bodies to overturn ships. Fortunately their main diet is other aquatic beasts.
Elasmosaurus:
This creature is about 14 m (46 ft) in length and weighed over 2,000 kg (2.2 tons), making it the second longest plesiosaur. It has a large body and four flippers for limbs. More than half of its length is its neck, which had more than 70 vertebrae, more than any other animal. It has a relatively small head with sharp teeth. According to Supplement II, it loves snatching crewmen from ships.
Plesiosaurus:
These huge serpents have short necks, but large heads. They will not hesitate to attack ships venturing into their territories.
These are but a few of the various aquatic monsters mentioned in Supplement II. It seems likely that these creatures have some times been encountered in the deep rivers of the swamps near Blackmoor and in the Black Sea. Some speculate that these monsters are being bred in the realm of the Egg. Perhaps the Egg also has some way of controlling the beasts. Fortunately not all denizens of the Black Sea are this hostile.
Image Sources
Elasmosaur
Plesiosaurus
Mosasaur
-Havard
Recall that killer whales (the sea ram) are so named, because they used to EAT people.
ReplyDeleteWith the invention of gun powder and steel hull ships these intelligent animals made a truce with mankind and no longer hunt us. Of all the whales, the ORCA has best mastered public relations and are the darling of the modern citizen.
From Pliny 9:67
“The sea ram commits its ravages like a wary robber; at one time it will lurk in the shadow of some large vessel that is lying out to sea, and wait for anyone tempted to swim. While at another, it will raise its head from the surface of the sea and survey the fisherman’s boats, and then slyly swim towards them and sink them.”
Havard, you should take a look at the sea creatures listed in the 3lbb's too - U&WA p34-35. I suspect most if not all of these are from Arneson and they are actually repeated in supplement II - possibly because he sent TSR copies of the same notes twice!
ReplyDelete@Clovis: Hehe, pretty funny :)
ReplyDelete@DHBoggs:Interesting. It is surprising that the editor (Kask) didn't notice this. I will check out the full list as you suggest however! :)
Thanks!
Wow some of those beasts are down right scary. I wouldn't want to run into them in a dark ally. That Plesiosaurus looks like the Loch Ness and Ogopogo Sea Monsters Thank you for the interesting read!
ReplyDelete:)
Thanks Chris :)
ReplyDelete